


The Blanket Fort

by ValBirch



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 04:12:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7875751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValBirch/pseuds/ValBirch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike fights with Lucas and El runs away. In a rage, he breaks down her blanket fort. But he knows that El will come back and he needs to rebuild it before she does. </p>
<p>A kind of angsty, sort of fluffy one-shot, with a little bit of Dustin for good measure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Blanket Fort

Mike Wheeler sat on the sofa in his basement, feeling something between guilt, fear, and frustration. Eleven hadn’t come home last night, even though he had been sure she would. He had even made sure to sneak downstairs after his parents were asleep to unlock the door at the side of the house, so that she would have a way to get inside. Now, the next morning, there was still no sign of El. Her blanket fort was still empty. Mike sank back into the couch and into his thoughts. 

The scene of his argument with Lucas replayed in his mind. Mike was angry with Lucas for being so stubborn and stupid. Why would El be lying to them about knowing where Will was? She only messed with their compasses to protect them. Lucas had been a jerk to say those things about El—that she was like a dog, that she was a traitor. No, Lucas was the traitor. He had caused them to fight, he had run off and broke away from the group. 

Yet, Lucas’s words kept repeating themselves in his ears, crawling under his skin. “You’re blind…blind cause a girl’s not grossed out by you!” 

Mike had thought about the girl in question and found that he was mad at her too. Eleven should have told them earlier it wasn’t safe instead of trying to trick them. He thought she knew that friends don’t lie. But Mike’s anger towards Eleven wasn’t quite as strong as his feelings against Lucas. Even though she could have hurt him, Mike knew she hadn’t wanted to. She was scared and confused. His anger had turned to guilt. 

In a sudden burst of anger, directed at he wasn’t sure who, Mike strode over to the blanket fort and began kicking at it, giving in to the impulse to destroy this symbol of his caring for El. Each kick held a different kind of anger behind it.

Stupid Lucas and the stupid way he treated El.

Will, still missing and in real danger because they weren’t able to find the gate.

Eleven, for purposefully setting them back. 

Eleven, for not coming home. 

Eleven…for making him feel angry, confused, guilty, worried…why hadn’t she come home? 

Mike collapsed down amongst the ruined blankets and wiped away the angry tears that had gathered in his eyes. He had to find her. It wasn’t just because he liked her in that way; it was so they could find Will. And when they did, he would fight the Demogorgon and show El how brave he could be — it was the reason he had stood up to Troy for laughing at Will’s memorial, the same reason why he had pushed Lucas the day before. Mike wasn’t sure he would have done those things if he hadn’t wanted El to feel like he could protect her from the bad men, that he could be a hero, even if he didn’t have superpowers like her. He would never admit it out loud, but he really, really liked El. It wasn’t like having a stupid crush on Lisa Jacobs, who sat in front of him in science. El was better, she was real and pretty and special. She made him feel brave, sick, and confused all at once. And Mike hoped he wasn’t crazy to think that she maybe liked him back because he knew she stayed closer to him than anyone else and looked at him longer than anyone else. Girls were confusing. 

“Mike!” he mother’s voice called from upstairs, “Dustin’s here!” 

“I’m in the basement!” Mike hollered back, quickly extracting himself from the pile of blankets and trying to put them back into shape as best he could. He heard Dustin thundering down the stairs. 

“Did Eleven come back?” he asked, keeping his voice low. Dustin, once at the bottom of the stairs, was able to take in the destruction Mike had wreaked and had the answer he needed. 

“Shit. This is bad.” 

“I know, Dustin,” Mike sounded irritated.

“We have to find her,” Dustin continued.

“We will,” Mike replied, “We will.” 

“What’d you do man?” Dustin asked, walking over the levelled fort. 

“I…I was upset,” Mike muttered, a little sheepishly. 

“No kidding,” Dustin looked back at him, “Where’s she gonna stay?”

“I’ll rebuild it.” Mike’s voice was firm, “I have to do it now, before we go looking for her.” 

“Or,” a hint of excitement crept into Dustin’s voice, “We could find her and she could rebuild it with her powers! It’d be super cool and way better than before.” 

“No way,” Mike shook his head, “It has to be here for her as soon as she gets back.” 

“If you say so,” Dustin shrugged, a hint of a teasing smile on his lips. Mike knew what that was about, but ignored it. He still wasn’t ready to admit that he liked El. Last year, when Will had admitted he liked Jennifer Hayes all the boys, including Mike, had teased him relentlessly for weeks, making kissing sounds whenever she passed in the hallway. Dustin leaned over and began to pick up a blanket. 

“No,” Mike interrupted him, “I have to do it myself.” 

“Why?” Dustin glanced at him sideways.

“I just…I just do, okay?” Mike avoided looking at his friend. 

“Alright, cool,” Dustin shrugged again, “I’m gonna go read some comics in your room. Try to make it quick so we can go look for El.” 

“Yeah,” Mike nodded and bent low to gather up the fallen blankets. Dustin, as he climbed the stairs, looked back at Mike. 

“Girls,” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

Mike heard the basement door open and close behind Dustin as he worked to rearranged the blankets and pillows that were in disarray. As he restored the blanket fort to its former shape, he mused on the reasoning why it was so important he had done this alone. 

Because Eleven was his responsibility. He had to take care of her. 

Because he wanted El to feel like she had never left; like nothing had changed since yesterday because nothing had. 

Because he wanted her to feel safe and warm and to know that she would always have a place to stay with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey folks! Hope you enjoyed this. One of the most heartbreaking implications in the TV show is that Mike has to rebuild El's blanket fort twice—once after he breaks it down and once after Brenner's guys destroy it. So sad. Let me know what you thought!


End file.
